House-door letter-box



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. D. OUSHING 811A MITCHELL. HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX. No. 491,534.Patented Feb. 14, 1893.

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A. D. OUSHING & A MITCHELL.

HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

No. 491,534. Patented Feb. 14, 1893.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. D. BUSHING & A MITCHELL. HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

No. 491,534. Patented Feb. 14,. 1s9s.

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I c/fizorrzgas UNETE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED DARLING OUSHING AND ALEXANDER MITCHELL, OF \VHEELING, VESTVIRGINIA, ASSIGNORS TO THE POSTAL IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, OF NORRISTOWN,PENNSYLVANIA.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

{SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 491,534, datedFebruary 14, 1893.

Application filed October 8, 1891- Serial No. 408,077. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that we, ALFRED DARLING CUsHINc and ALEXANDER MITCHELL,citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Wheeling, Ohiocounty, West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Mail-Boxes; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Our invention relates to improvements in mail boxes especially adaptedas a delivery and collection box for offices and private houses.

The invention consists essentially in the combination of a face platehaving a port or passage through it, a door having a mail port throughit, a flap pivoted to said door, a box or receptacle for mail to becollected, an apron flexibly connected with the box and a connectionbetween the door and apron for holding the latter above the flap whenthe door is closed and permitting it to drop and form a chute over thedoor when the same is opened.

The invention also consists in other combinations hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1, is a front view of our invention, as appliedto the door of a building; Fig. 2, is a section of the same; Fig. 3, isa section showing a modification of the compartment for mail to becollected; Fig. 4, is also a section of the same in position when thebox door is open for the collection of the mail by the postman; Fig. 5,is a front View of the invention as applied to a wall, as in an officebuilding, and Fig. 6, is a section of the same showing compartment formail collections in the form of a chute which may extend to the topfloor of a building. Fig. 7 is a section across the face plate showingthe letter slot and an edge view of a letter.

A is the face plate having an opening through it, adapted for attachmentto a door or wall, and B is a door also having an opening through it,hinged to the face plate and held closed by a suitable lock the key ofwhich is to be carried by the postman.

C is a flap loosely hung in the door to normally close the opening insaid door.

The face-plate is provided with flanges a a for projecting through aslot or port through the door of a house or a wall and these flangesalso afford a convenient means of securing the mail collection box tothe back of the house door or wall and said box and face plate together.

Dis the box or receptacle for mail to be collected. This box is securedin place behind the wall and coupled with the face plate by means ofbolts or rivets (Z 0. extending through the sides of the box and flangesa a. The box or receptacle may be provided with a swinging lid (1', asshown in Fig. 2 to be opened for the introduction of mail matter to becollected, or the box may extend upward and receive the mail through aslot or otherwise, as shown in Figs. 3, 4. and 6.

E is an apron loosely pivoted within the x box forming its bottom orlower wall.

F is a tongue or bar loosely pivoted to the door B and arranged so thatits lower end rests on the boundary of the opening through the housedoor or wall as shown. The front end of the apron rests at all times onthis tongue, and when the door B is opened, the apron falls as shown inFig. 4, and forms a chute down which the mail matter slides through theopening in the face plate ready for collection by the postman.

G is an indicator for disclosing the presence of mail in the collectionbox, and is provided to do away with the necessity of opening the door13 when the box is empty. This indicator or signal is convenientlyoperated through the medium of lever gand rod h when the lid d is raisedto deposit mail for collection. One end of the lever is coupled with anarm of the indicator and one end of the rod is operatively coupled withthe lid in such way that after the lid has adjusted the signal it willdrop back to normal position while the signal remains in its adjustedposition. The lid may or may not be looked, as may be desired orrequired.

In Figs. 2 and 6, we have shown a pocket or compartment H for the maildelivered to house or office which may be kept locked to preventunauthorized persons from handling the mail after delivery.

In Fig. 2, we have shown the application of an electric bell to give asound signal whenever the flap O is operated, as in the delivery of mailthrough the slot in door B. I is a dry battery, K an electro-magneticvibrating bell, n n circuit wires, and 0 o relatively movable contactterminals. The connections and arrangements of parts may be variedindefinitely, the conditions being that the movement of the flap inwardshall close the electric circuit and thus cause a bell to ring.

In Figs. 5 and 6, we have shown the invention as applied in an officebuilding, wherein the receptacle for mail collection is also a chute orchannel for conducting the mail from upper floors to the main floor.This collection box and chute may be arranged adjacent to, and used inconnection with, a cabinet or system of private drawers, as shown inFig. 5, said drawers being for individual mail of occupants of thebuilding. One drawer, as H, immediately back of and below the mail slotmaybe of considerable capacity for the reception of the mail of suchtenants as desire distribution by thejanitor who may have the key tothis box only.

The signal bar G is provided at its lower end with a detent or shoulderat and the door carries a spring latch .2, so that when the sig nal hasbeen raised it cannot be returned to normal position outof sight,accidentally or otherwise, until the door B has been opened for thecollection of the mail.

The face plate, the door or the flap, or any two of them are providedwith a narrow slot 7". In these slot-s letters or figures having splitshanks areinserted and the parts of the shanks are bent outward tosecure the letters in place. These letters or figures are applied insuch order as to give the number of the house or the name of theoccupant, or both. By this means we economically provide universal doorand number plates in connection with our letter boxes.

Having now described our invention, what we claim, is

1. The combination of a face plate having a port, a door having a mailslot or port, a box or receptacle for mail to be collected, an apronflexibly connected with the box, a flap and means, controlled by thedoor, for holding the apron above the flap when the door 1s closed andfor permitting it to drop and form a chute over or on to the door whenthe same is opened, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a face plate having a port, a door having a mailslot, a flap pivoted to the door, a box or receptacle for collectionmail, an apron flexibly connected with the box and a tongue connectedwith the door for holding and dropping the apron,substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of a mail box, a lid or cover for said box, a doorleading from outside a wall to said box, a signal outside the box,alever directly connected with the signal, a direct connection betweenthe lever and the lid and a catch or dog arranged to engage the signalbar and hold it in adjusted position when the door is closed,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

ALFRED DARLING OUSHING. ALEXANDER MITCHELL. Witnesses:

W. G. RAMAGE, 7 EDWARD L. VEITH.

